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American Morning

U.S. Crewmembers to Receive Hero's Welcome in Hawaii

Aired April 12, 2001 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in just over two hours from now, crew members of that detained U.S. spy plane are due to touch down in Hawaii. But the diplomatic issues that underline their drama remain very much in the air. For one, their surveillance plane. It's left crippled by the midair collision with the Chinese fighter jet. It remains stranded on Hainan Island under Chinese control.

U.S. officials have started debriefing the plane's crew to find out how much of their intelligence data and equipment they were able to destroy before their emergency landing. Also, Secretary of State Colin Powell says of the developing situation, "This is not over."

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We have CNN correspondents posted at the many points of this evolving situation. Standing by in Washington, D.C., Patty Davis is at the Pentagon. Kelly Wallace is standing by at the White House. Rebecca MacKinnon is standing by live in Beijing. And Martin Savidge is in Honolulu, Hawaii -- Let's begin with Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon.

You could say that there is a quiet air of expectation here in Hickam Air Force Base. Normally this base at this hour of the morning, it's a little after 4:00 in the morning Hawaii time, would be fairly deserted. Not this morning, though. It's not a normal day. Lots of television lights, television cameras, cables all over the place and generators whirring in the parking lot, a clear indication that Operation Valiant Return, as the Navy is calling this homecoming, is in full swing.

There were some photographs that were released last evening that depicted the crew shortly after they took off from Hainan Island on board that civilian aircraft that picked them up.

You can imagine, even though we know that the crew was reportedly well taken care of while they were detained by the Chinese, that sense of relief once they felt the wheels lift up and once they knew they were finally on their way home. And after that, then they broke out the toasts and the smiles broke out, as well, as the crew realized that this was now an ordeal that was coming to an end.

Shortly thereafter, well, a couple of hours, really, they landed on the island of Guam. It was their first chance to actually set foot on American soil and that, too, was a very, very special occasion for all of them, significant in many ways, and it wasn't just significance, though, that brought them to Guam. The navy wanted to make sure that they had an opportunity, one, to freshen up a bit, also to get some hot meals into them. They wanted to have the opportunity to decompress, the Navy says.

They realize that this has been a mental anguish for many of them, despite the fact that they were well taken care of. And most important of all, they were given the opportunity to call home and talk directly to their families and there's just no way to put a price on what that would have meant, both to those making the call and those on the other end receive it, as well.

Then after that, they once more changed planes, this time getting on board a military aircraft, this C-17, and beginning the journey that would bring them here to Hawaii.

It's expected that the aircraft, now being projected to land at around 6:20 A.M., that would be 12:20 P.M. Eastern Time, and it's also anticipated that there's going to be a relatively small, simple greeting ceremony, the navy wanting to make sure here that as much as they want to welcome the crew members back, they don't want to take anything away from the families and the big welcome home reception that is being planned at their home base up in Whidbey Island, which is about 50 miles north of Seattle in Washington State.

After that, it gets down to business and they go into two days of very intensive debriefing. This is part of their mission. It is standard routine. If it had been a normal mission they would be doing the same thing, basically explaining what it was they saw during their surveillance operation and the, of course, trying to explain what happened with the collision that took place in the air and how they were treated when their plane arrived on the ground, one of the things the Navy wants to find out, already may be finding out, is how much data may have fallen into the hands of the Chinese, how much of that very sensitive equipment was able to be destroyed before Chinese soldiers boarded the aircraft.

So, again, we wait. 6:20 is the time and it's a little over two hours away -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, good deal, Martin Savidge standing by in Honolulu. Marty, we'll get back to you later on.

Let's go now to the White House, where CNN's Kelly Wallace is standing by -- Kelly?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, President Bush and his aides certainly looking forward to seeing those 24 crewmembers arriving for that welcoming ceremony in Hawaii. The White House, there is a sense of satisfaction here, really, that this administration's approach proved to be successful in the end and a day after senior administration officials are admitting that it was really President Bush who was encouraging his advisors to be patient, believing that the White House's strategy would prove successful and end to -- put an end to the stand-off in a quickly and timely manner. Now, as for Mr. Bush, a little bit of self-promotion here. He learned that those 24 crewmembers were on a plane and on their way back to the United States from CNN. He was listening to CNN's live coverage aboard Air Force One as he was making his way back to Washington from North Carolina. Once he heard the news he told his aides that "our team did not make the first incident a crisis."

Now, at the same time, we're learning a little bit more about what was going on or what went on behind-the-scenes. Senior administration officials are saying that there were absolutely no side deals, no concessions to the Chinese on other issues such as potential arms sales to Taiwan, to secure the release of those American service men and women.

Number two, officials also saying that the actual text of this letter was pretty much in final form as of Saturday evening and that the administration was just waiting over the past several days for the Chinese to respond and say yes, they have agreed to the deal.

And finally, the issue of surveillance flights. As we know, the Chinese would like to see the U.S. bring an end to these surveillance flights, but U.S. officials are saying that those flights will continue.

Earlier this morning, I had a chance to speak with Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security advisor. I asked her about this issue of surveillance flights. I also asked her about the impact this collision will have on U.S.-China relations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The United States is not going to negotiate about these surveillance reconnaissance flights that are a key part of our national diplomatic and foreign policy strategy because what we are doing with these flights is protecting not just our own interests, but those of many allies in the region.

Now, we can have a discussion about how this might be done in a way that does not cause an incident of the kind that we've just had. We are focused right now on the positive resolution of this. I think that we've done a pretty good job of preserving a framework for a productive relationship with China, but there is a lot still ahead of us. This meeting is ahead of us and I think that we will look to see if we and the Chinese can find a way forward that is, perhaps, better representative of the relationship we would like to have than the one through which we've just gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And that meeting Dr. Rice is referring to scheduled for April 18th, the two sides agreeing to get together to discuss other issues -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: Well, Kelly, I'm interested in what the, Ms. Rice had to say to you about whether or not the White House is going to respond to any of the calls, particularly from the, let's say, from the right- wing press that's been coming out, asking for some sort of punishment for China. Now that the servicemen have actually been returned, they are not in the hands of the Chinese at this particular point so there's not nearly the same, I guess the same fear of their endangerment, what is the White House saying about the tack they'll take now? Will they consider something perhaps when it comes to the Olympics issue or the Taiwan issue, that there will be at least an element of any kind of punishment here?

WALLACE: Well, you know, certainly U.S. officials were not going to delve into any of those issues until, of course, these crewmembers were out of China and on their way back to the United States.

Still, they're being a little bit tightlipped about that and saying, quite frankly, that there needs to be a little bit of an assessment of the situation, that there may be a little bit of a rough period between the U.S. and China, but that they're, the two countries really kind of need to asses things. The president will need to assess the situation, think things through. Obviously, this administration knowing there will be pressure, especially coming from conservatives, for the administration to, in some way, have the Chinese pay a price for this incident.

But the message so far right now from the White House is that it still believes that there is a structure in place to have a productive relationship between the two countries and right now, Leon, they're just trying to keep the focus on this incident, getting the crewmembers home, resolving issues such as getting that spy plane back here in the United States and the issue of surveillance flights.

So they're sort of not really going out and talking about those issues at this point in time.

HARRIS: All right, understood. Real quickly, can you tell us whether or not the president has made any plans to talk himself personally with any of these crewmembers?

WALLACE: That is a great question and we just don't have the answer. We know that the president is going to be here in Washington today focusing on some of his domestic priorities such as education, and then he heads to his ranch in Crawford, Texas later this afternoon. So we, Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, briefing other reporters right at this moment. And so we are definitely inquiring if the president will be telephoning or talking to the crewmembers today or any other day over the next couple of days.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. We'll let you get back to your snooping around. Kelly Wallace at the White House, thanks much.

WALLACE: Thanks.

HARRIS: ... Linda?

STOUFFER: Well, Kelly mentioned some of the diplomatic entanglements that still remain in this story, some of which will have to be unraveled in a meeting between Chinese and American diplomats.

Now, the meeting is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, April 18th, but the location for that meeting has not yet been announced.

CNN's Patty Davis joins us with more on that angle. She's at the Pentagon -- Hello, Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Linda.

The top of the agenda for the Pentagon at that meeting, get that U.S. surveillance plane out of China. Now, the Pacific Command says that it does have crews as well as parts standing by that could fly in at a moment's notice onto that Chinese air base. They want to assess and see if that plane is repairable.

If it is, those crews could try to repair it and then fly it out. If not, they're talking about disassembling it and possibly putting it on a barge or disassembling it and putting it on another aircraft and flying it out. But that is all subject to negotiation at this point, those negotiations April 18th, as you said, with that meeting between the U.S. and China.

Now, on the agenda at that meeting, not only that plane itself but causes of the incident. Also, possible recommendations whereby such collisions could be avoided in the future as well, as we said, development of a plan for the prompt return of the EP-3.

Now, as for the crew, two days of mission debriefs ahead. We're talking intelligence debriefs, how much were they able to destroy data and sensitive equipment on board that plane, how much did the Chinese get access to after the crew was forced off that plane? Also, medical debriefs and psychological debriefs and then the Pacific Command says that this crew, of course, will fly into Whidbey Island, the naval air station there, for reunions with their families and then they get 30 days off -- Linda.

STOUFFER: Sounds good. They certainly deserve it. Well, Patty, now that the Pentagon officials are getting the crewmembers back, what about that plane? Do they really expect they'll get it?

DAVIS: Well, they had kind of, as of last week, almost written this plane off, getting it back. But now they're saying it's a matter of pride, in a sense, and a matter that they don't want to set a precedent whereby a plan such as this would go down in a country such as China, say it happens again in another country, if China is allowed to keep this plane or somehow works out keeping this plane if it happened again, and the U.S. military certainly doesn't want to see that. So it's going to push very hard to get this plane back -- Linda.

STOUFFER: We'll be watching. Patty Davis at the Pentagon, thank you very much for that.

A programming note for you. In just about 10 minutes from now we plan to talk to a former U.S. servicemen who emerged from a similar drama. We'll speak with former Kosovo prisoner Andrew Ramirez about his capture, his release and just exactly what went on in his debriefing.

HARRIS: Now, while many Americans see the release of the crew paved with diplomatic concessions on both sides, many Chinese see this matter as an unequivocable victory over U.S. aggression.

CNN Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon joins us and she's got that perspective for us -- Rebecca.

REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, yes, the Chinese state controlled media is very much painting this as a victory over U.S. hegemony. That's a word we've been hearing a great deal lately, the view that the United States has been pushing in on Chinese breathing space, coming in too close with the surveillance flights, caging China and trying to prevent China from expanding, becoming a great power. Now, not expanding its borders, but becoming a superpower that it wants to be.

So, there's a feeling that this is an issue of sovereignty, that the United States has infringed upon China's sovereignty and that China needs to assert itself and make the United States understand that it must deal with China with respect. This is very important to the Chinese.

Yet, on the other hand, we have spoken to quite a number of members of the public, just when we went out into the streets, and there are a number of people who are critical of their government having released the crewmembers as quickly as it did. There are actually quite a lot of people who feel that their government should have extracted more concessions from the United States before releasing the crew.

So it's very interesting. However, these views are not heard very much in the state controlled media, because the state controlled media's job is to present the government's view -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thanks much Rebecca MacKinnon reporting live from this evening in Beijing.

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